Forced Promises
by PreciousJax
Summary: Max and Logan are forced into taking extreme circumstances in order to save Max's sister.
1. Chapter One

--Jaci's Note: Ok, here is another story by me. Everything I write takes place before that travesty of a season finale, so this is all pre-AJBAC. This is more expositonary than everything, and i'll try and get the second up in a few min.--  
  
  
  
Chapter One:  
"Logan?" Max shouted as she pushed open the front door with her foot. "You here?"  
Max pushed her bike down the hallway, glancing in each room as she passed. The penthouse was completely quiet, the only sound her enhanced hearing picked up was the light humming of air being pushed out of the heating vents in the floors.   
Shrugging her shoulders, she pulled off her backpack and leaned the bike against the kitchen counter, making a beeline for the fridge. She didn't mind making the Jam Pony delivery to a Foggle Towers an extended lunch break, Max thought as she pulled up the door to the fridge to dig around inside.  
Max was pulling out a plate of various leftovers out of the microwave when she heard a key slide into the lock on the front door. She leaned forward in her chair as she took a bite of blackened fish to see Logan walk in, his hair wet and spiking everywhere, his black jacket streaming with water. "Hey Logan!" She called, her words muffled by the food in her mouth as she impolitely talked with her mouth full.   
Logan looked up from the mail he was flipping through when he heard Max's voice echoing from the kitchen. He grinned as he walked into the kitchen, tossing his car keys onto the counter. "Hey Max." He said, still smiling. "Cutting work again?"  
"Nope. Got a Jam Pony delivery for a Mr. Logan R. Cale." Max said, picking up her book bag from the floor with one hand as she took another bite of fish. She pulled out a large, flat envelope and handed it to Logan. "Its not ticking or anything, I checked."   
"Nice to know." Logan muttered as he tossed the letter onto the counter.   
"What does the 'R' stand for?" Max asked, smacking Logan's hand lightly as he reached across her shoulder from behind to grab a piece of fish with the easy familiarity of close friends, skirting on the border of something more.   
"So I see you helped yourself to my food, once again." Logan said, skirting the question.   
"You weren't going to let me venture back into that cold, hard city undernourished, were you?" Max asked, trying hard to pout, but failing miserably as she broke out into a large grin.   
"You're using me for my cooking, aren't you?" Logan shot back dramatically.  
Max laughed, glancing up to where Logan stood above her. Their eyes locked, and Max sat unmoving as she lost herself in their icy depths. She could have sat like that for hours, but it was in that moment that her pager decided to emit a series of shrilling beeps. Max rolled her eyes as she looked down, digging through her bag to find the source of the annoying noise.   
While Max pulled out her pager, Logan quickly moved away to stand on the other side of the counter, suddenly feeling unbearably warm in his light polo shirt. He leaned against the counter as Max stood, shrugging on her book bag. "Normal is freaking, I got to go." Max grumbled as she collected her belongings. She pulled out a signature card and handed it to Logan, finishing off her fish in several bites.   
"Dinner tonight?" Logan asked as he handed back the card to Max. It was really a pointless question, because more often than not these days, Max was hanging around the penthouse, whether there be an Eyes-Only mission for her to do, or whether she was poking through Logan's movie collection.   
"Eight?" Max asked as she pushed her bike towards the front door, walking backwards as she talked to Logan.  
"Sounds good." Logan called after her, grinning as Max walked out the door.   
At the last second, Max stuck her head back in the door. "And don't think I am not going to find out what that 'R' stands for. You haven't outsmarted me yet." Logan snorted as the door swung shut. He scratched the back of his head as he ventured back into his office to get back to work.  
A few minuets later, Max pulled her baseball hat on as she walked down the street, rain soaking her jacket in a matter of moments. She was just lifting her leg to straddle the bike when a hand clamped over her mouth from behind, dragging her roughly into an alley directly behind her.   



	2. Chapter Two

Chapter Two:  
Max rolled, twisting the assailant's arm behind them, and grabbing him by the neck, she slammed him instinctively against the brick wall of the alley. "Zack." She breathed, her hand dropping to her side. "Do you always have to make a dramatic entrance?" She asked flippantly, trying to cover the sinking feeling that was settling over her, the feeling that always accompanied Zack's visits. Whenever Zack 'dropped by', something was always wrong.   
Max walked to the mouth of the alley where she had dropped her bike, picking it up and pushing it down to stand in front of Zack who still hadn't spoken a word. "Look, if you have something to say, your going to have to walk with me, because I am late for work." Max took a step towards the street, and then glanced back at Zack who had crossed his arms and looked down at the ground. When he looked up, Max saw something so unfamiliar in her brother that she almost dropped her bike again. Unchecked, unbridled pain. "Zackie?" Max asked in a small voice, fearing the worst.   
"They got her. They got Syl." Zack choked, his voice cracking weakly. "I wasn't fast enough and they got her."  
Max leaned her bike against the wall and crossed to Zack in three steps to wrap her arms around him in a tight hug. She hadn't seen her sister in well over ten years, but this news was enough to break her heart.  
At first, Zack didn't return the embrace, standing stiff as Max sobbed in his arms. Then he wrapped his arms tightly around her, holding on as if to prevent losing another sister.   
"We're going to get her back." Max whispered after she had stepped back.  
"Yeah, we are." Zack replied, his protective armor snapping back into place in the course of a second as he brushed the back of his hand across his eyes. "I found a computer tech inside Manticore who is willing to help us."  
Max's jaw dropped. "You trust someone inside Manticore? Quick, someone turn on the weather channel and see if hell just froze over."  
Zack stared at her stonily. "Yeah, I trust him."  
"Why?"   
"Because he's been working from the inside for two years and he still hasn't turned me in. He is a money hungry, greedy little bastard, but he's come through when I needed him."  
Max contemplated this for a moment. Zack of all people trusted him, so it was pretty that he would help them. "Are you sure this is going to work?"  
"I don't have the slightest idea." Zack said honestly. "I just know I am going to need your help."  
"How is this going to work? What are we going to do?"  
"I don't know, I have to get in contact with him. I just needed to get your agreement that you would help."  
Max paused. "You knew I would, you wouldn't even have to ask." She whispered.   
They stood in silence for a moment, completely overwhelmed by everything. "Look, let's go back to Logan's." Zack couldn't help the involuntary sneer. "He can set you up with whoever this contact of yours is."  
Zack sighed and crossed his arms, falling into step beside Max as they walked towards the entrance of Foggle Towers. 


	3. Chapter Three

Chapter Three:  
Logan was just accessing the Informant Net when he heard the front door open. With whatever sixth sense it was, Logan knew it was Max and stood to greet her. "Get lost on your way to work?" He called as he made his way towards the door. "Or did you just change your mind…" He trailed of as he stepped into the living room to find Max standing next to Zack, her eyes red rimmed. Logan's immediate thought was that Zack had done something to her, but then regretted the hasty conclusion as he saw a similar look of pain in his eyes.   
They all stood in silence a moment, before Max went to stand in front of the window, staring blankly into the city in front of her. Logan turned back to Zack who had now crossed his arms menacingly. "They got Syl." He spit. Logan was hit with a wave of relief that it hadn't been Max, and then once again felt guilty for his reaction.   
Max flopped down on the couch, pulling her legs up to her chest. "Zack's got a contact inside Manticore who is willing to help us get her out. Can you help us set up a secure call?"  
"Yeah, no problem." Logan said as he turned, walking back to his office with Zack on his heels.   
Max wrapped her arms around her legs as she rested her cheek against her knees, closing her eyes as she thought of her sister.   
  
***  
Max squatted, shivering in the snowy woods, her brothers and sisters around her, all of them wearing the same drab military gowns. The sound of a nearby helicopter made them all glance up from their dark hiding places. Zack began making a serious of hand motions, and as Max mentally translated them her heart sank.   
  
Split up, groups of two, go in opposite directions.  
  
Max watched as two by two the only family she had ever known split up and ran into the woods. Krit and Zane. Ben and Tinga. Bryn and Jason. Alex leaving by himself. All that was left was Jondy, Syl, Ryan, Max, and Zack. Zack pointed to Ryan and Syl, and for one brief moment, Syl made eye contact with Max. As Syl ran through the woods, Max looked up as her sister left, watching as Syl looked over her shoulder at her younger sister. What neither of them knew was that it would be the last time in well over ten years that the sisters would see each other.  
  
***  
Max snapped back to reality when she felt a weight beside her on the couch. She changed the position of her head to look at Logan. "He's on the phone with him." Logan said quietly. "You alright?"  
Max smiled weakly. "I'll be fine. Its just kind of hard knowing that they have her."  
Logan could think of no words of comfort.   
"I want to thank you, I mean, it seems like whenever something happens we are running to get your help. It probably gets old real quick." Max said.   
Logan smiled softly. "I figure your allowed one stupid comment a day." He draped an arm comfortingly around Max's shoulder. "You just met your quota."  
Max laid her head on Logan's shoulder as she fought back tears once again.   
Zack walked back into the room, his permanent scowl deepening as he saw Logan's and Max curled up together on the couch. He had the urge to make some sort of sarcastic remark, but considering the circumstances he decided against it. "I set up the meeting."   
  
Later that night, Max and Zack stood at the corner of a dark, abandoned street, next to a beat up payphone, waiting anxiously for the phone to ring. Zack tapped his foot, Max starred at her wringing hands, and they both jumped three feet into the air when the high pitched shrilling broke through the silence.   
Zack snagged the phone with one hand, holding it out so they could both gather themselves close to it to hear the computer tech, whom Zack only knew as Rob, and what he had to say.   
"Yeah." Zack snapped.   
"I've got some information for you." The voice was low and mechanical, some sort of voice altering mechanisms being used.   
"Go ahead."  
"I can tell you where X5 834 is."   
"That is what I am paying you for." Zack snapped.  
"Well, I also have a small offer for you, since you are such a great…customer."  
"Now is not the time to screw with me."  
"Don't you want to hear what I have to offer?" Rob asked condescendingly.  
"Not really, I want to get the X5."Zack snapped.  
"Well, you can't get one without the other."  
"What if we just want to get the X5 and nothing else?"  
"Then I am just wasting my time."  
Zack cursed. "What do you want? More money."  
"Like I said, I have an offer for you. I've recently developed a virus, one that I am willing to upload onto the Manticore mainframe. I can upload it soon as you get the X5 out."  
Zack looked over and made eye contact with Max. "For?" He asked after a moment of silence.  
"Four million."  
Zack cursed again. "You've got to be kidding. No way."  
"Do you want to see Manticore gone for good? Or are you going to let them do to that poor girl what they want to do with the next group? Did you know the X8s are almost to term?" Rob asked with sugary sweet sarcasm.  
"We'll be in touch." Zack snapped before slamming down the phone. "Damn it." Zack breathed. "God Damn it!" He shouted, turning to kick the side of the building.  
"How are we supposed to get four million dollars?" Max spoke, reining her temper in on a short leash.   
"How the hell do I know?" Zack snapped back, pushing off the wall to pace back and forth. Suddenly Zack stopped, stalking off away from Max down the street. "Zack! Where are you going?!"   
"I need to think. I'll be in touch." He shouted over his shoulder.   
"Great." Max muttered, running a hand through her hair and turning to walk back to the only place she could go at a time like this. 


	4. Chapter Four

A/N: As with my other stories, please excuse my severe lack in updates, if I get pestered enough, I'll update more often. I've hit a block with this story, I think I stopped at chapter 8, but I'll keep posting here till I run out of material.  
  
Chapter Four:  
Max stepped back into Logan's apartment, via guest room window, about a half hour later, once again soaked by the torrential down pour that had begun half way up the side of Foggle Towers.   
Max found Logan, as usual, tapping away at the keys of his computer, brow furrowed as he scowled at whatever happened to be on the screen. "Hey" She said from the open doorway.  
Logan looked up from where he sat. "Hey." He replied, standing as he stretched his arms in front of him. "How'd it go? Did Zack's contact call?"  
"Yeah, but not with the news I wanted to hear." Max said, a frown marring her face as she turned on her heel to walk out of the room.   
"What happened?" Logan asked concerned as he followed her out into the living room.   
"Zack's contact is screwing with us." Max said as she walked over to the window, unable to sit still.   
"So he doesn't know where Syl is?" Logan asked sitting down in a low chair.  
"Oh, he knows, but he isn't going to tell us unless we accept the other half of his little deal." Max said as she walked across the room again. Logan knew Max well enough to recognize her habit of pacing when she was nervous. Since she hadn't sat still she'd arrived, he figured she was pretty upset.   
"And what deal might that be?" Logan asked after Max didn't volunteer the information.   
"Well, he'll tell us where Syl is, and he'll help us get her out, plus, as an added bonus, before he runs like hell out of the country, he'll upload a virus onto Manticore's mainframe and destroy all the files. All he wants is a little bit more money."  
"Define 'a little bit more'." Logan asked, turning his head as Max walked around him.   
"Just four million more than I have any hopes of getting my hands on." Max said flippantly as she threw her hands up in the air.   
"Damn." Logan muttered. "Where'd Zack go?" He asked after a moment, finally noticing his absence.   
"Like he'd willing tell me a god damn thing." Max said grinning sardonically. "He stalked off soon as he got off the phone with barely a word."  
Logan stood silently as Max stalked past him yet again, quietly fuming.   
After a few minuets of silence, the only sound being Max's boots falling against the hard wood floors, Logan asked the one question that was burning in the back of his mind. "So, what are you going to do?"  
Max threw herself on the couch, flinging her arms over her eyes as she kicked her feet frustrated against the floor. "I don't know. I really don't know. How is Zack and I supposed to get four million in, what, a week? I could sell my bike, call in loans to every loan shark in the city, and rob a bank or two, but I still don't think that would be enough."  
"Max, you know I'll help however I can, but even I don't have that kind of money liquid. Everything I have, other than a couple of hundred grand, is locked up in trust funds or Cale Industry stock."  
Max smiled weakly. "Yeah, I know." She rose from the chair and started to pave again. "I wouldn't want…" She trailed off as she looked up at Logan. He was standing there; visibly pale, his mouth hanging open comically. "What?" She asked   
"Trust fund…" Logan muttered as he turned on his heel and walked quickly into his office. Max cocked a brow, following quickly on Logan's heels, confused by his sudden change in mood.  
Max found Logan digging through the back of a filing cabinet, muttering irrationally under his breath. He pulled out a thin manila and tossed it onto the desk, shoving the drawer shut and flipping open the file with one hand.   
"What's that?" Max asked perplexed as Logan started to riffle through the papers.   
"A copy of my parents will." Logan answered distractedly as he found the source of his search. He quickly scanned the paper before handing it over to Max.   
Max read the paper quickly, her mind quickly deciphering the legal jargon. It was a document with information on a locked bank account, one containing a little over five and a half million dollars, a bank account in the name of one Logan R. Cale. Max eyes widened as she read the stipulations on the account.   
This is all great, Logan." Max said. "But there is a block on this account, one that only gets lifted when you get married." Max glanced up, continuing to speak. Logan scratched the back of his head and stared at the ground. "How do you…" She trailed off a realization dawned.   
Logan could have compared Max's expression to something similar to a deer caught in headlights. "Uh uh." She said, shaking her head and laughing at Logan as she backpedaled out of the door. "You are NOT thinking what I think you are."  
Max stood completely still as Logan followed her back into the room.  
"What choice do we have?" Logan asked, running his hand through his hair.   
"A lot! Quite a few!" Max said desperately.   
"Like what?" How can you get four million dollars in less than a week other than robbing every bank in the city, which I don't plan on letting you do if there is any other option."  
"So, you want to get MARRIED so you don't have to have a couple of breaking and entering jobs on your conscious?" Max shouted.  
"No, I am saying that I am not letting you risk this major of a robbery."  
Max was silent, her eyes wide and desperate as she grasped for strings, trying desperately for a reason that this wouldn't work. "Logan." She said, trying to be rational. "That was set up by your parents for you, your wife, your children. I am not going to let you just give that money away."  
"Max, do you think that that money means a thing to me?"  
"There is no way this could work out. The day you and I get married is the day that they are taking ice skating lessons in hell." Max said knowingly as she backed away from Logan once again.  
  
Original Cindy cocked an eyebrow at Max when she walked back into the apartment several hours later. "Hey Boo."  
"Hey." Max said in a strange voice.   
"Where's you go. You never came back from that run to Rich-y Rich's place."  
"Yeah, sorry. Normal pissed?" Max asked as she walked over to crouch on a chair.   
"Yeah, but you've talked your way out of everything else before, so I'm nor worried. So what happened at Logan's house that you couldn't get back to work? You guys finally drop the pretenses and get down to getting busy?" Cindy asked wiggling her eyebrows at Max.  
"You know we're not like that." Max said, again her voice sounding strange.  
"Then what exactly do you do over there all the time?" Cindy asked, a hand on her hip.  
"Well, tomorrow, we're getting married." Max said flippantly.   
"You too really need to…wait…what did you say?" Cindy asked confused. "Did you just say…WHAT!" Max stared blankly ahead as Cindy stared openmouthed at her roommate and best friend. "You guys spend months and months denying any sort of relationship and your getting married??"   
"Pretty much." Max said, the promptly burst into tears.   
Cindy rounded the counter quickly. "Boo? What's wrong? What aren't you telling me?"  
Max sniffled out the story, choking back sobs as Cindy held her and petted her head. "And…the worst thing is…we have to stay…married…for a year…" Max sniffled. "Or…the trust fund…gets cut off."   
Original Cindy was, for the first time in the history of her existence, completely speechless. "Damn, boo. That's a bitch. That's a real bitch."   
"Tell me about it." Max said as she stood to grab some tissues off a table at the other end of the room.   
"Well, this may not be the best time to mention this, but considering, at least he isn't ass ugly and mean, and rude."  
I can handle living with Logan, right? I mean, we are both mature adults and good friends, we can pull this off. No problem."  
"Whatever you say." Cindy said.  
Max burst into tears again. "Cindy!" She wailed. "I don't want to be married to someone who doesn't want to be married to me." Cindy noticed that Max had never once said she didn't want to be married to Logan.   
"Well, at least you can get him to cook for you more often, right? So just look at the positive side. You get to live in that phat pad of his, and it doesn't even have rats." As if on cue, a small mouse skittered across the corner of the room. Max laughed around her tears. "Cindy," Max said, laying her head on Cindy's shoulder, "Zack is going to be so pissed." 


	5. Chapter Five

A/N: This was kinda a boring chapter in my opinion, I dont even remember what its purpose was, I wrote it so long ago.  
  
Chapter Five:  
Logan sat in his kitchen, staring blankly at the automatic coffee machine as it slowly dripped fragrant liquid into the pot below. He'd gotten maybe three hours of sleep the night before, spending countless hours staring at the ceiling above his bed, contemplating the events of the night before.  
Maybe it was just an after effect of complete shock, maybe it was just complete denial, but it still hadn't phased him that by tomorrow afternoon, he and Max would be married. Yesterday afternoon, good friends, tomorrow, husband and wife.   
He didn't know when Max's hypothetical questions had stopped being hypothetical, but they had stood at opposite ends of the room, far away as humanly possible, negotiating their marriage as if it was some high stakes business merger. It all came down to that for twelve months, Max would be one Mrs. Logan Cale, and Logan would be in his own private hell.   
He knew perfectly well that he felt more for Max than he would if they were 'only friends' as they both had always claimed to be. He also knew he was a little more than halfway in love with her, but he would never make the first move, not wanting to risk the close friendship that they had, even if it was a frustrating and unresolved one. But all his good intentions were sent UPS straight to hell, as getting married, whether it be in name only or not, it was a surefire way to ruin the friendship that he'd worked so hard to preserve.   
It was simple really, a very uncomplicated plan. Max was moving into the guestroom that morning, tonight they'd go to his uncle's house, as he was the executer of Logan's parents will, and announce their engagement. Tomorrow morning, they'd be married by a contact of Logan's, one of the few judges left in the city who wasn't corrupt. Twelve months later, they'd be quickly and quietly divorced.   
"Real simple." Logan muttered, wondering how such a 'simple' plan had so many consequences. He finally snapped out of his thoughts to notice the coffee had long since finished brewing. He poured coffee into its mug and walked into his office, sitting heavily in his chair, rocking back to stare at the painting above the computers.   
It was demeaning, really, to see the startled horror on Max's face when she had read the document on his parents will. Sure, it hadn't been exactly the best news in the world to Logan either, but the way she had practically run out of the room, it had hurt, even though he knew it shouldn't have. Jumping out of the window had been only slightly more effective.   
So he and Max had negotiated, both of them understanding the unspoken agreements that were best left unsaid.   
Max demands that she be able to do whatever she wants when she wants to, Logan having no say in her life. Yet another insult to add to the growing list. He was doing all this for her; he was gaining absolutely nothing from this plan. He was helping her save her sister, and she was making demands.   
So Max wanted a business like marriage? Logan thought as he picked up the phone. So be it. Logan pulled off his glasses and rubbed his eyes as he hit one of the numbers he kept on speed dial.   
  



	6. Chapter Six

Chapter Six:  
Original Cindy yawned as she sat on Max's bed, neatly folding clothes as Max tossed them over her shoulder from the heaps they sat on her closet floor. "Girl, you are the most disorganized person I know, yet you always know where every damn thing is."  
"Plus half of yours." Max called back, her voice muffled as she held a red sweater up in front of her face.   
Cindy yawned again, her jaw cracking. She was so glad it was her day off because she and Max had pulled an all nighter, Cindy comforting Max as she effectively freaked out over what she was about to do.   
When the sound of muffled ringing from under one of the various piles on the bed, Cindy started picking up piles of clothes, in search of the phone. "Under the pillow." Max said as she tossed Cindy a couple of shirts.   
Cindy grabbed the phone and flipped it on as she folded one of several black shirts. "Top of the world, God speaking. How may I direct your call?" Cindy asked sarcastically.  
"Uh, Cindy?" Logan's confused voice echoed over the line.   
"Hmmm." Cindy decided that what she had to say to Logan would be more effective if delivered in person. "Max, phone." She said, holding the phone out.   
"Who is it?" Max asked, sticking her head out of the closet.   
"Logan."   
Max shook her head desperately, her eyes wide. "Uh, Max is busy right now. She's, uh, in the shower." Cindy ad-libbed raising a brow at Max. She was going to be living with the boy for a year, but she was going to avoid his phone calls. Right…  
"Um, ok." Logan said, knowing perfectly well what was going on because he had heard Max's voice in the background a few seconds earlier. "Tell Max that she needs to call me concerning…our arrangement."  
"You mean your little fakey fake wedding, right?" Cindy snapped. "Original Cindy is not stupid, and she knows what is going on, so you can quit talking in code."  
"She told you?"  
"Hell yea she told me. She is my best boo and I know when something is wrong. I have a few choice words for you, moneybags, but that is better left for another time. What do you want me to tell her?"  
"Uh, tell her that we have to go to my uncle's house tonight, tell her to wear a dress, be here at six." Logan said tritely. He was getting sick of getting yelled at by pissed off females. If this was what he had to look forward to for the next year…  
"I'll tell her." Cindy said quickly before the line went dead.   
"Oh and by the way." Logan snapped sarcastically into the receiver. "Manticore should be arriving at your house in the next couple of minuets, I told them you'd be expecting them." He threw the phone down onto the table, frustrated, but not really knowing what he was frustrated at. 


	7. Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven:  
Max picked the lock to Logan's apartment, and then fleetingly wondered if now that she was living her if he'd give her a key. Logan would probably be here now, which would make it the first time they'd seen each other since they'd made the agreement, and now that they'd had proper time to absorb what they were about to do, it was pretty much guaranteed that it was going to be one big long awkward moment.   
That morning, when Cindy and she had brought Max's belonging's over, Max had been ever so relieved that Logan wasn't there. There had been a note lying on the kitchen counter saying that he had gone out to take care of the legal side of the marriage. Good for him, Max had thought, because she hadn't a clue how they were going to get all the legal documentation they needed in less than a day. Even back before the Pulse, you needed blood tests and such, but considering Max wasn't even a real person in the eyes of the government, Max figured Logan was going to be paying quite a few people off that afternoon.   
Max pushed through the door, wincing as she kicked it shut behind her with a little more force than she had intended. She heard the shower running in the bathroom and figured Logan was getting ready for this bitch of a dinner that she was going to have to go through. Max walked past the bathroom and into the guest bedroom, which was now unmistakably hers, as there were cardboard boxes strewn across the room, exactly where she had tossed them that morning. Max dropped her last box by the closet, and then pulled a plastic garment off the top. If she was going to have to sit through an uncomfortable dinner with Logan's snotty family, the least she could do was look nice.   
  
Logan emerged from the bathroom ten minuets later, still knotting the tie at his neck. He could hear Max doing whatever females do to get ready in the guest room, and was relieved, because he really wasn't looking forward to this evening. A year seemed like an eternity when you were putting off the first day.   
Logan walked into his room, finishing knotting his tie, then pulling on the jacket of his dark suit.   
Logan fiddled with everything he could think of, and then giving up, he opened the door to walk out into the living room. At the very same time that he opened his bedroom door, Max opened hers and they both froze when they saw the other.   
Max was wearing a dress of navy blue silk, spaghetti strapped, which ended inches above her knee. Her hair was smoothed back into a bun, low enough to cover her barcode, leaving her shoulders bare and looking incredibly elegant. Logan just about swallowed his tongue.   
Max had a similar reaction. The black suit, complete with black dress shirt, was incredibly sexy, and the irony was, his blue tie was the exact color of her dress. "You've been hanging around me too long." Max said, trying to act as normal as humanly possible, considering the circumstances.   
"What? Why?" Logan asked confused.   
"All black is usually my style." Max said, smiling softly.   
"Yeah, well…" Logan scratched the back of his head, glancing down at the ground. They both trailed off, not having anything to say, each looking at anything but each other.   
The silence was deafening. In all the months that they had been friends, one of them always had something to say, and if not, they made something up. Talking was good, quiet was bad. But now, this not-so-subtle change in their relationship was completely screwing up the equilibrium between them.   
Max finally got sick of the roaring quiet and spoke. "Look, I just wanted--" She never finished because Zack picked that opportunity to walk into the room.   
It was another long quiet moment, the three looking from one to the other and back again. Zack cocked a brow. "So, Syl's been captured, we still don't know how the hell we are getting her back, and you two are going out for a night on the town?"  
Max and Logan both winced, as if wounded puppies. Logan shot Max a look, one that could be read, as 'I'm not telling him'.   
Max took a deep breath. "Uh, Zack, you've missed a few developments why you've been off doing your thing. Why don't you sit down so I can explain it to you."  
Zack glanced warily from Max to Logan. "That's quite alright, I think I'll stand."  
"Fine." Max said, walking over to stand in front of Zack. "I, well I should say Logan, found away to get the four mil cash."  
Zack stared at Max, knowing something he was about to be told something he wasn't going to like. The only time Max tiptoed around him was when he was going to get pissed. "Go on."  
"We'll have the money, in what was it, Logan?" Max asked over her shoulder. "A week?" Logan nodded his agreement.  
Zack waited. "What aren't you telling me, Maxie?"  
"Uh, well… Logan and I have to get married to get the money." Max said carefully, avoiding Zack's eye.   
Zack didn't comprehend what Max had said for a moment. He just looked blankly at Max. "What?" He said, the faintest of smiles teased his mouth.   
"Logan has a trust fund with enough money to get Syl out, but it has a lock on it until he is married. That is where we are going now, to Logan's uncle's house to announce our engagement."  
Zack glanced over Max's head at Logan, and then looked back down to Max. He felt the boiling anger rise in the back of his throat. "No." He said simply, carefully keeping his temper in check. "Not a chance in hell." Max recognized the irony in the fact that those had almost been her exact words.   
"There isn't any other way." Max said calmly.   
"You can't get married, Max. You need blood tests and legal documentations just to get a license, none of which you can get."  
"I had a contact of mine take care of everything this afternoon. Max is now a legal citizen, one Max Guevara, blood type O positive."  
"You stay out of this." Zack snapped, pointing a finger at Logan.   
"Hey!" Max snapped, grabbing his arm and shoving him forward a step. "Watch what you say to him!"  
Zack stared down at Max, confused by her sudden change in mood. "Maxie." He began.   
"No, don't 'Maxie' me. Logan is busting his ass to help Syl, to help us. He isn't gaining anything from this at all, so I think you should be treating him with just a little bit of respect, Zack!"   
Both Zack and Logan were equally surprised by Max's outburst. Logan didn't think in a million years that he'd hear Max stand up for him to Zack, especially the way they had been acting towards each other over the last day. Zack was just royally confused.   
"So it all comes down to this, Zack. Do you want to save Syl or not?" Max snapped venomously. "Because I know I do. Now if you'll excuse us, I am going to go have a terrible time at dinner with a bunch of people who hate me." Max said, turning on her heel to walk into her bedroom, walking out a moment later with her jacket and promptly walking out the front door.   
Zack and Logan warred in a brief staring contest, before Logan turned and followed Max out the front door.   
On the ride down to the basement garage, Logan's head whirled, and for the first time since this whole insane plan came out, Max had showed some spark of rationality.   
Logan found Max leaning against the passenger door of his car. "It's locked." She muttered, still fuming. Logan quickly unlocked the doors and climbed in after Max. It was ten minuets into the drive to the outskirts of Seattle when Max finally spoke. "Logan." She said, turning in her seat. "I know I have been a real bitch to you, and I want you to know that I really do appreciate what you are doing for me, even if I am not acting like it." She finished her speech in a rush, then immediately turned back towards the window.   
Logan smiled briefly into the dimming sunlight of twilight. This year was probably going to be pure hell on the both of them, but if they could just manage to get along, it might not be that bad. 


	8. Chapter Eight

Okay, this is all I have for a while. I put this story on hold while I work on Extra Ordinary and Forever Young. Review and I might be inclined to work on it sooner. :)   
  
  
Chapter Eight:  
Logan pulled outside of Jonas and Margo's small mansion and set the parking break. "Ok, what exactly did you tell them?" Max asked, still staring out the window.   
"Not much of anything. I told them that I, uh, we had an announcement to make."   
"Lovely." Max muttered as she began to open the car door.   
"Max, wait a second." Logan said. Max sat back down in her seat, raising a brow at him. "What?" She asked.  
Logan reached uneasily into the pocket of his suit jacket. He didn't know why he was so nervous about giving the ring to Max, it was just window dressing, right? Right? "Uh, here." He quickly pulled out the black velvet box and tossed it unceremoniously at Max.   
Max flipped open the lid. Diamonds flashed and she slammed the lid shut and shoved it back at Logan. "No way am I taking this."  
"Max, it is a prop, all a part of the charade. Put it on." Logan said calmly pushing the box back into Max's hand.   
"I am not going to take a ring from you that cost more than most people make in a year!" Max said shoving it back as if it was poison.   
"Well, it was the only ring I had available, it's my grandmothers, and the only ring I had access to on short notice, ok?" Logan hissed back.  
"Just one more reason for me not to take it! It's a heirloom!"  
"Max, I don't feel like fighting with you." Logan snapped. He opened the box and pulled out the ring, tossing the box into the back seat. Logan grabbed Max's left hand and slid the ring on her finger.   
For a long, silent moment, they both stared down at Max's hand, Logan's fingers still wrapped around her wrist. The trio of diamonds set on a silver band glimmered in the dim light. The ring fit perfectly. Looks like the coordinated colors weren't going to be the only irony of the evening.   
Suddenly, they both jolted, pulling back from the others touch. Hey quickly climbed out of the car, desperately avoiding eye contact, and walked up the stairs to the heavy oak doors of the mansion. Silently, Logan reached forward and hit the doorbell.   
A uniformed maid opened the door to lead Max and Logan through the house to well-lit dining room, where Margo and Jonas already sat.   
"Junior!" Jonas said as he rose from his chair. "Nice to see you are still among the living."  
"Uncle Jonas." Logan said, stepping forward to shake Jonas's hand and lean down to kiss Margo's cheek. "Aunt Margo. You remember Max, right?" He said, turning to step back next to Max who still stood uncomfortably in the doorway.   
"Oh yes, from Bennett's wedding, right?" Margo asked.  
"Yes, how nice to see you again Mr. and Mrs. Cale." Max said with saccharine sweet politeness. Logan had a feeling that they both were about to pull off an Oscar worthy performance.   
They all sat down at the table, Logan pulling out the chair for the perturbed Max, Logan and Max sitting across from Margo and Jonas.   
"So, Junior, what was this big announcement that couldn't wait another day?"  
Logan turned slightly in his chair to face Max. "Do you want to tell them, darling, or should I?" He asked with a winning smile.   
Max narrowed her eyes slightly. 'Darling?' "Oh, you go ahead, *dear*." She replied with a purely evil grin that only Logan could recognize as a death threat.   
"Well." Logan said carefully. "Uncle Jonas, Aunt Margo, Max and I," Logan said, clasping Max's hand on top of the table. "We are getting married." He finished with a smile.   
Margo and Jonas stared at them for a minute. "What?" Jonas asked surprised. "When did this happen."  
"It was a whirlwind romance, right Max?" Logan asked in sickeningly adoring voice that made Max want to regurgitate.   
"Well, once I met you, I knew we were meant to be." Logan wrapped an arm around Max's shoulder. Max swung her foot under the table and jabbed the heel of her shoe into Logan's foot.   
Jonas and Margo could interrupt Max's look as an infatuate gaze. It was really a look that said 'hands off or die'. Logan dropped his arm, and was immensely relieved when Max took the pressure off of his foot.   
Margo was the first to break the stunned silence. "Oh that is great!" She said, though neither Logan or Max could tell is she was being sincere.   
"And here we thought you'd never get remarried after what happened with Valerie. Such a shame, she was such a nice girl." Jonas continued, sipping at his martini.   
"Uncle Jonas." Logan said in a warning undertone while Max shifted in her chair uncomfortably.  
"Oh, well, the past is the past. Plus, you picked a real pretty one, didn't you my boy." Logan resisted the urge to laugh as Max rolled her eyes subtly.   
"So tell me," Margo said, leaning forward, "how did you too meet?"  
"Well," Max spoke up sweetly when Logan faltered. "We had the most interesting conversation on art. Logan had the most glorious statute of Baste that I was just dying to have."  
Logan bit the inside of his cheek. "After that I just had to find out everything I knew about her."  
After several minuets of talking about how they had met, Margo suggested that they hold the wedding at the mansion, similar to Bennett and Maryanne's wedding.   
"Well, actually, we are getting married tomorrow." Logan said carefully.  
Margo just about had a stroke. "But…" She sputtered. Logan's first wedding had been the social even of the season. Margo was looking forward to a repeat performance. The quickie wedding that was going to take place in City Hall tomorrow somewhere around noon wasn't exactly what she had in mind.   
"Well then." Jonas said soothingly. "That certainly is quick, isn't it? Well, if you won't let us throw your wedding, the least we can do is send you on a honeymoon. Italy is beautiful this time of year."  
Before either Max or Logan knew what had happened, they had agreed to let Jonas send them to Italy.   
"Uh, Logan, can you point me in the direction of a phone?" Max said semi-desperately. "I need to make a quick call."  
Logan reached into his pocket to pull out his cell phone. "You can use my--" Max's hand grabbed Logan's under the table and gripped so hard, Logan was fairly sure her heard something crack. "Uh, right this way."  
When Logan and Max were safely out of hearing distance, Max grabbed Logan's arm. "What the hell was that? We aren't going to Italy." Max hissed.  
"What was I supposed to do? If they get suspicious, none of this is going to work. The happier they are, the less they are going to think!" Logan snapped back.  
"We cant--" Before Max could go on, Margo's high-pitched voice floated down the hallway. "Logan? Max?" She called.   
Neither of them, especially Logan, had a single idea why he did was he did next. Not a clue in the world. They would both spend days questioning why he did it, and why she let him.   
Logan pushed Max up against the wall, and before he could think of what he was doing, he framed her face in his hands and crushed his mouth against hers. At first, Max was too stunned to react. She wrapped her arms around his waist just as Margo rounded the corner.   
"Oh, isn't that sweet." Margo cooed. The two jumped apart as if startled high school-ers caught making out in the backseat of a car. Max and Logan's eyes seemed to be locked together unbreakably, their breaths heaving as they shakily stepped back from each other. 'All apart of the act.' Max thought as she stared into Logan's depthless eyes.   
'All apart of the act.' Logan echoed mentally as he took a slow step back.   
"Maxine, dear, come join me in the parlor for a drink. Id love to talk to you alone for a few minuets." Margo said stepping up to the couple. She clasped Max's arm as she moved towards an open door down the hallway. "Logan, go make sure your uncle doesn't drink himself into a stupor."  
Max walked down the hallway with Margo, and it was just a few minuets inside the door to the elegant parlor that Margo started chattering. "You'll have to excuse me, dear, if I seemed cold towards you at dinner. I really am happy for you and Logan, it just came as such a shock. Logan's been alone for so long, and then out of the blue he is getting married." Margo said as she poured Max a drink out of a decanter. "But I am so glad to see Logan so happy again. Its been a long couple of years for him, that with George and Nicole dying, and then the divorce." Margo waved her hand in front of her face as if to shoo away the thoughts. "Oh, such nasty business." She crossed the room and handed Max a crystal goblet, who had yet to utter a word to the talkative Margo. "You know," She continued as if telling a secret. "When I first met you, I was sure you were just another gold digger after his money."  
"Logan is a great person, you can't help but to….love him." Max almost choked on the words.  
"Oh I know, dear. Just to see you too together, it is obvious how much you two love each other." Margo said in a soft voice. "After all he's been through, I think you are absolutely perfect for Logan."  
Max just about dropped her glass. She knew she was a passable actor, but this was just a bit too much. "Thank you." She finally managed, feeling sick to her stomach.  
"And I see he gave you his grandmother's ring. Just another reason I know he loves you dearly. He wouldn't give the ring to Val, but he gave it to you. Isn't that just adorable."  
Max was almost positive she was going to pass out. Logan was busting his ass to help her out, and here she was, openly lying to the sweet old woman, and all of it was being done for her own personal gain. 'I am a terrible, terrible, terrible person.' Max thought. 'I am going straight to hell, if I'm not already there.' 


	9. Chapter Nine

Forced Promises  
  
Chapter Nine  
  
"Logan?" Max's voice was meek. It should have been his first indication that something was wrong, but he was distracted and not all that together after a lovely little evening with the people he unfortunately called family, so he didn't notice Max staring morosely out the window, fidgeting lightly as she spoke. Though, her words did register enough to make him wince. Everything they said to each other lately seemed to escalate into an argument, and he really wasn't in the mood right now.   
  
She really didn't want to bring this up but curiosity was burning a lovely little whole in her gut. "Yeah?" Logan asked.   
  
"I know it's none of my business and if you don't want to tell me that's fine." Max lifted her hands and then dropped them back into her lap with a frustrated sigh.   
  
A long silence filled the car again as they sat at a sector checkpoint line. "Is there a question?" Logan prompted.  
  
"Why wasn't this trust fund of yours ever touched before, when you were…uh…married before?"   
  
Logan's knuckles turned white, his hands gripping the wheel to the point it was painful. "Why?" He snapped. "You're getting your money, why do you all of a sudden care about the details?"  
  
Logan saw the all too familiar flash of temper, but this time he caught a quick shadow of hurt. He wanted to kick himself for putting it there. "I didn't realize I didn't have the proper security clearance, Commander Cale. My mistake, sorry for asking." Max lounged back in her seat, crossing her arms. It was as close to a sulk as he'd ever seen her get.   
  
Logan sat through the rest of the checkpoint, helpless quiet, wondering what to do. "Max…" He started.  
  
"No, forget about it, Logan." Max said calmly now. "You don't need to tell me anything."  
  
"Max, I'm sorry." It was Logan's turn to sigh. "I just…I don't like talking about my parents death. It was more of an automatic reaction to the question that anything." When Max's shoulders remained tense, he closed his eyes a moment. Had he been stationary, he would have kept them that way, but since they were on a busy inner city street, he did have that luxury. "I'm sure you don't want to hear every single dirty detail, so I'll give you the condensed version. Val got arrest for drunk driving after we had been married for about three years. To keep herself out of jail, she plea-bargained down to voluntary suspended license. I was so pissed off that she got behind the wheel of a car after she'd been drinking, I threatened a divorce unless she went into rehab. She agreed and we found this nice residential six-week program for her. She absolutely hated it, it completely wasn't what she expected it to be when she went in there." Logan laughed briefly at the memory of his ex-wife being expected to do chores. "Needless to say, two weeks into the program, she threw a fit and wanted to come home. Since I had driven her there and it was in the middle of the wilderness, another complaint on her part, she had no way of getting back to Seattle. She called me and wanted me to come get her, I said no, that I wasn't going to help her leave in the middle of her treatment." Of course, that made her throw another fit, screaming that he didn't love her and that he was probably sleeping with other women while she was gone. That had been her trademark, claiming that Logan had been having affairs with everyone from the check out lady at the grocery store, to one of his second cousins who'd dropped by while she'd been in town. "When I still refused, she called my parents. She said to them-"   
  
"Why would she call your parents?" Max asked, confused.   
  
"My parents absolutely adored Val. Especially my father, he thought she was the perfect person for me." Which was why he'd gotten so much pressure to marry quickly. "They thought she could do no wrong. When she called them and told them that she was all-better, but I wouldn't come pick her up so she could come home, they said they'd come get her." Logan remembered the call he'd gotten from his father. He was on his cell phone in his car driving up to get Val. He'd gotten completely reamed out for allowing his poor, suffering wife to stay in that awful place when she was so obviously better. It was the last time Logan ever talked to them.   
  
"It was towards the end of January," Logan continued. His face was shadowed, his eyes dark with grief. "Pretty late at night. A car coming from the other direction hit a patch of ice and swerved in front of my parent's car. My mother was killed instantly. My father lived long enough to get to the hospital. He was on life support, but he'd had a living will." It happened six years ago, but it still hard to think about the night after the accident when he'd been asked for permission to take his father off life support.   
  
"Val was hysterical, she had to be sedated. To her credit, she loved my parents like they were her own. When the will was read after the funeral, I was so pissed off at my parents, for so many reasons. What the hell were they thinking, driving out to the middle of no where at close to midnight? If they'd just waited till the morning they wouldn't have been on that road. With the exception of some charities, I got their whole estate." He hadn't wanted it. He hadn't wanted a fucking cent of it. He'd sold their house, their cars, their boats, everything with in a month. All the money from those sales was donated to charities. What was he going to do with the money? Take a vacation? Money didn't buy happiness, especially when that money came from your recently dead parents. "My lawyer was handling most of the details, including the divorce I had just filed for. It probably wasn't right, but in a way I did blame Val." She never stopped drinking and I know for a fact that she was sleeping around. The simplest thing to do was move out of the house outside the city they'd lived in then. When Val had received the papers, she'd signed them with out the slightest protest. She seemed almost relieved that she could drink and screw all she wanted and not have to feel guilty when or if she ever sobered up. "She never knew about the trust fund and I wasn't about to tell her. To make a long story short, I never touched the trust fund while I was married because I was still grieving. By the time my divorce was finalized, I didn't even remember that it was there." He lapsed into silence while Max considered how to respond to all she'd just learned.   
  
"Logan, I have to say…I really don't like your ex-wife." Her voice definitive, a quiet sort of dedication that said she could turn into Mother Theresa incarnate, and Max would still think she was a bitch. It was enough to make the black cloud that had floated over Logan's mood lift enough to laugh.   
  



End file.
